Parker



Jan. 9, 1923. 1,441,745.

w. s. PARKER. v PLATING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES.

FILED AUG-20. I9I8. 4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

i 6 i I Ni} ag Jwafifi Jan. 9, 1923. 1,441,745.

4 W. S. PARKER.

PLATING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES FILED AUG.20. 1918. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Jan. 9, 1923; 1,441,745.

' W. S. PARKER. PLATING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES.

HLED AUGJZO. 1918 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 (d) 170.2] I I 3;

Jan. 9, 1923.

W. S: PARKER. PLATING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES.

4 SHEETS-SHEET}.

FILED AUG- 20. $918.

Patented Jan. 9, 1923.

UNITED FZSTATES "FATE-ills WILLIAM S. PARKER, 01 ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNOR 'IO BURSON KNITTING COMPANY, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A COR'PORATION OE ILLINOIS.

PLATING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGI-IT-KNITTING MACHINES.

App1icati0n filed August 20, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

4 Be it known that 1, XVILLIAM 'S/PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, inthe county of Winnebago and 5 "State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plating Mechan-ism for Straight-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to straightfknitting machines, andhas more particularreference to plating mechanism therefor. I have illustrated my improvernents in connection with a straight knittin machine of the Burson t be the en- 2? 7 c; 5 erai principles and operation of which are disclosed in the Bursc-n Patent No. 616,600 granted Dec. 2'4", 1898. lVhile itwas possible with a machine of this character to knit fabrics ofinnumerableshapes and with various yarns-so as to produceplain, fancy and irregular designs, determined by the pattern cylinders, the machine lacked facilities for performing the operation known as plating. In-this art, plating means knitting 5 the face of a fabric with one kind of yarn and the back withanother; and the present invention contemplates knitting of this character by means of straight knitting machines, especially of the type mentioned, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

The primary object, therefore,of this invention is to provide novel plating mechanism for straight knitting machines, enabling plating to be performedthroughout various knitting operations of which such. a machine is capable.

With this general object in view it is necessary that the plating and facing yarns shall he so controlled that either one or the other will be fed to the needles first according to the changes from continual round to course knitting, from light to heavy yarns, and from one'color to another, etc, as may be required by the character and design of the work; and another object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical mechanism for controlling the yarn changes that regardless of the variations and chang s in the design. the plating and facing yarns will always be properly fed to the needles.

Another object of the invention is to control certain changes of the plating. and facing yarns from a pattern cylinder or drum, whereby the-ends desired are attained Serial No. 250,675.

in a most simple, direct and advantageous manner.

These and other objects and'attendant adyantages will be appreciated by those skilled in the art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the which Figure l is fragmentary plan View of a straight knitting machine embodying my improvements l ig. 2, a cross-sectional view through the machine taken substantially on the line 22 of llig. 1, on a reduced scale;

Fig. 3, an end view of those parts of the machine sh own in 1, looking forwardly from the back end;

4-, a view illustrating one example of a stocking knit by this machine;

Fig. 5, a diagrammatic illustration of the yarn changes;

l ig. (3, a plan view of a yarn-carrier, approximately full 'iiZQ, and noted hereinafter asthe No. 1 yarncarrier;

T, a similar view but'showing the yarn distributer reversed;

'liigs. 8 and. 9, side and end views respectively ofthe yarn-carrier shown inFig. (5; and

Fin. 10, a cross-sectional view through the yarn-carricr taken substantially onthe line llll of Fig. (5, butillustrating the constru-ction of the No. 2 yarn-carrier, simply by the omission of one part which will'be mentioned hereinafter.

Since the general construction and operation of the'Burson straight knitting machine shown in the drawings is well. understood by those familiar with the art and is described in various patents, I have deemed it necessary to illustrate and describe only such pa. ts of a machine as will enable a clear uin'lerstanding of my present invention to be had. The well known parts include the accompanying drawings, in

lei needle beds 12 and 13, needles 14, p er hooks l cam slides 16 and 17 for ad. .ng and retracting the needles and hooks respectively, base bars 18,

book caps or yarn carrier guides 19, jack levers 21 and pattern cylinders 22 and 23 nmunted on the shafts 24 and 25. respectively. Other well known parts are the transfer wheel, designated in general by character 26. adapted to remove a i rier l'rom operative position and sul'istitutc another therelm', and the drive bars 27 znlapted to be reciprocated from a cross head, not shown, for moving through the agency of a drive hook 28, a yarn-carrier back and forth across the needle beds. Viewing Fig. l., the front side of the machine is at the lower side of the sheet and the front end, at the right hand end of the sheet. The mechanism for operating the pattern cylinders, the yarn-carrier drive bars and the trans fer wheel in proper timed relation is not shown, since such mechanism is well known in the art. Consequently, as will appear hereinafter, when mention is made of any of these mechanisms being operated in'certain predetermined relation itwill be understood that they are so governed by proper control mechanism. Before entering into a consideration of my improvements, per se, it might be well to state in a general way the operation of the parts thus far men-- tioned.

The pattern cylinders govern the needles as to bring a greater or less number into action for determining the shape of the knitting. The cam slides 16 and 17 are re ciprocated by the same cross head that reciprocates the yarn-carriers and thereby projects and retracts the needles and presser hooks in timed relation with feeding of yarn to the needles In a machine of this char-- acter the yarn drawn by the carrier from an overhead delivery, not shown, is carried in back and forward strokes across the needle beds by the yarn-carrier and fed to whatever needles are projected or brought into action by the needle operating mechanism. In this way, the knitting may be performed in continual rounds or courses; that is, in the back stroke away from the transfer device the knitting may be with one bank of needles and upon the forward or return stroke the needles of the opposite bank will be ln'ought into action, thus completing a round of knitting. When the knitting is not in rounds it is considered as knitting in courses; for example, the knitting may be back on one bank of needles in one course and forward on the same bank of needles in another course. Thus, a. fabric, such as a, stocking, might be knit by rounds and courses. employing either one or more yarncarriers for knitting different portions of a stocking with yarns of different color or character I n knitting a split foot stocking, that is, one in which the yarn for the sole is different from that for the ankle and front of the foot, the knitting for this portion ofthe stocking is in courses, producing a union or suture extending from the finish of the toe to a point in the ankle. In other words, a split foot stocking has a sole knit of a reinforced or relatively heavier yarn than that employed in knitting the front of the foot and the leg or major body portion. (fenerally, this heavier yarn is employed for knitting the toe portion, and the sole and heel up to and including the high splice at the commencement of the ankle portion. It is to this style of stocking that my improvements have special reference, since the knitting of a split foot stocking involves knitting in both rounds and courses and consequently requires various changes of yarn-carriers and. of the different yarns employed in plating as will be described presently.

Referring now to Fig. it will be noticed that the split foot stocking illustrated herein is knitted of two yarns, viz: a relatively heavy yarn indicated by the section lines and a lighter yarn noted by the nonsectioue ;l portion. F or this purpose two yarn-carriers are employed; one for the heavy yarn and the other for the relatively lighter yarn. Following this example, the yarn-carrier having the heavier yarn may be called the No. 1 yarn-carrier and that for the lighter yarn may be termed the No. 2 yarn-carrier. The No. 1 yarn-carrier knits the toe portion from A to B in continuous rounds, whereupon the No. 2 yarn-carrier knits courses back and forth on one bank of needles and the No. i yarn-carrier knits similar courses back and forth on the opposite bank of needles, this operation being carried on alternately, producing the split foot portion from B to (l, with the exception of the heel pocket Di"l, which is knit separately by the No. l yarn-carrierduring which periodthe No. 2 yarn-carrier is inactive. is well understood in this art. This produces a union or suture on each side of the foot from the finish of the toe portion to the finish of the high splice. The ankle and major leg portion of the stocking are knit as shown with the No. 2 yarn-carrier and the upper leg portion from F to (i is knit with the No. i yarn carrier. This particular stocking, it will be HlKlGIStUOtl, is simply taken as an example for illustrating the method of plating with my improvements, which are to be presently described, and it will be borne in mind that the particular design and shape of the knitted fabric might be varied to produce any effect desired inchuling the use of two or more yarns dithering in color. quality, diameter and 1 h- 7 "With regard to my im n'ovements, the plating perlormed by s1 iultaneously (le- .livering two yarns from a yarn-*arrier to the needles through separate ditributing eyes, so that one yarn will be fed to the needles in front of the other, thus positively insuring that a given yarn will be knit on the face and another on the backof the stocking. I have, therefore, termed the yarn on the face of the knitted fabric the facing yarn, and that yarn on the back the plating yarn. Inn straightrknitting machine of the character =referred lllO herein, the plating yarn :must he 3"f8d itoithea needles "first,.tha.t is, just inndvance :(lflthQ facing yarn, so that :WllBIl both yarns ere kIlllt siinultzuieously the facing iyern will. he ion the tsce,.end the plating tyarn onzthe beek v the provision :lr'or uplating" by ,means :of a

simple control/mechanism which "Will; enable the plating 'to "-be automatically performed through either ieontiniual t-I'Ollild or e course knitting.

'llhe ya'rnrcarriers mentioned (are preferably- :hoth lof thersame construction, with :one exception which will *he gpresently mote-d. Referring to (Figs. :6 :to .11 inclusive, each yarn carrier comprises a body :29 having slides 3123(1fiPt8d1t0'1fihl-1'1 the ways 320i the yarmcarrier guides :19 land yhevingnn "111)- tnrned end 3?;adapted toihewoperatedhyrthe drive-liar hook 28. Mounted upon ;the yard carrier iare-zithe usual latchopeners 34 end the presser teet35. lnsteajdoi' a single distributing; ,eye .for wtlie yer-n qthe ea-rrier :is equipped '(Wliih one-ens foridistrihutingjin p redetermined man-he r plurality of yarns so that one of the iynrns evill -he rpositively fed toitheineedlesheforcqthe other. In the present "instance, this warn distributing means consists i of a yern tuhe -revo1uhl mounted on the spaced upper and lower cross plates 36 an d 37 i of wthe arn-carrier and formedwith:twoyarn passages i38z311'il 39 on diagrannnatioztlly :opposite sides of the pivot-axis-of the yarntuhe. -1his yam tnhe is:normz1ll v :held wxz-itlrits passages 38 and 39 ill hl'iillSVQlSfl alig'mnent with respect to tlieineed-leiheds. As a consequence, one of the yarns will/be ted to :the needles ijust advance o l. the other-yarn. \When thesfront ltLHlK of needles is in operationland tlie--\y;1r-n- ('2, rier shown in ii is inoved-inits hack stroke, that; is, away i from i the transfer wheel the plating yarn willi-hex ted-ito each. needle firstl -that is, inst-inedvenceofthe it'ecingparn, the latte heing lrnit on the face olfthe (fabric. At the-endioii the backstroke. the yarn tulewillfihe revolvedn ihel t revolution. so that during the forward orreturn stroke when the needles oiF-the oppositee'ow are in emotion the plating yii-i nevill similarly he the first,to enterithe needles. Thisprd duces a continuous round of knitting in which the facing yarn positively knit i on the of the fabric. E01; revolvinglthe termed a switch, which upon being -)Z;.tlI1lt-Lll3ll1 these halt revolutioi'i movements, *1 have 1 provided what might he actuated -hy any one of various controlling elements .jdisposed iin'iit-s path :as the carrier is reciprocateihwill he-..moved from one position to Another :for correspondingly reversing the gIlOSll'blOll- Qlll.hl1e yarn distributing eyes. This :swiigtchiconsists of a part 4:1 pivotall mounted on wpostfiiQ intermedietezt-he plates 36 .and andshaped.itouprovide a segmental gear in mesh with a pinion 4l,fi)i8l with the yarn tube 80. The pivoted part ail is also; provided with a radially r and upwardly extendingrm which is adapted vto he instigated {fQI oscil-lat-ing the parttl anchconsequently, revolving-the yarn tube in half revolution move nents, The arm 4%?) shown in Figswo to 9 inclusiveis provided it-h ,anupstanding finger (l0 adepted'to he actuated by means independent of those whioh'operate directlvupon the arm as will appear hereinaifter. llhe only difierence heiween the No. ,1 and No. 2 yarn-carriers is the fact that the 'No. 2 carrier does-not include thisiiipstanding finger 40. Onlthe-No. 2 yarn ca-rrierl the-rarm leppeers; as shown in .Eig. ll. .Stops 46 and 47 fixed on the carrier-,-are provided for limiting oscillation of: the pnrt 4:1 solthiit when the lzitter is oscillated from (one positionto;- zmothegthe ya in tuhelwill he revolved simply through shell revolution. Illhus when the part .41 is moved from th e positi on shown in Fine 6 to that shown in Fig. 7, the distributinle'Ieyes SSiIDCl -39 vwill {he moved in i1 counter-clockwiseidirection through 180, and upon returning the mrt ll to itsiorig'inal position thevdistrihuting eyes will "he moved 1in the reverse direction the distance. In order to hold they-sin tuheendits operating pertiinset position andto assist in inoriii-g theparts 'lfrommme positionto another as.willilie-presentlyseen, a spring :48 isprovi'ded. This'spring connected iiione end to the post 4:9,nnd at itsopposite end at 51 to the part fllndiunietri rally opposite from the lHH lS arranged so that when thepoint 51 passes the centerline between the pivot axes otrthe pert ell and the yarn tube 30. the spring ;-will II'IOVG iillQ-pkilt '!.-1 into contact with either-stop l-(:3 or ti'. rilepei'idf as is evidenhon whichside octsei il cei'itei' me the connec-tionfi]. isdisposed. Thus it will he seenythe-t the spring 48 holds the part i, and r11. .inithc positions shown in both F i 6,and 'T ai'idt-hat upon. moving the i in it; in a clockwisedirection (viewing Fig. 6) just past the centerline mentioned, the spring: will -1 complete :the movement, rerrying the arm against thestop fl-,7. By reason of this coi'istruc-tion, the position of the yarn dis trihutingeyes may hereversed almost instently,, since in ,i addition to: the quick notion ottheep ir gsthe switch is operated-by being brought into contact with crmtrollor ele- I'nents upon carrier. i

Control mechanism is provided tor actuating the yarn changing switches of the yarncarricrs at dill erent points in their operat on, it being necessary that the yarn changes be made almost instantaneously in order not to interfere with the continuity of the knitting operation. In order to obtain in a most simple and practical manner, the various yarn changes required for knit ting a split toot stocking ot the cha 'acter described above. or of any desig gn requiring both course and round knitting where many changes occur, 1 have provided acontrol mechanism which .is operated in part from a. pattern cylinder and from the transfer wheel. The controller elements by which the position or the yarn is changed on the carrier by actuation of the arm 4&5, consist in the present instance, (referring to F igs. 1 and 3) of a front stop 52 positioned on one arm of the transfer wheel in the path of the arm 5, a back stop movable into and out of the path of: the arm 4-5 by the pattern mechanism and an intermediate spring member 5%- likewise movable into and out of the path of the arm l5 by the pattern cylinder. The front stop 52, shown best in Figs. 1 and 3, is simply a set screw on one arm of the transfer wheel 26 in the path oi? the arm l5 ot the l lo. 1 yarncarrier and so arranged that when said yarncarrier is moved into the g1" ideways of the transfer wheel at the comp] on of the forward stroke the arm will. i; it is in the position engaging the stop 4 shown in Fig. 7, be thrown to the opposite stop so to reverse the position of the yarns as mentioned above. The switch of the No. 2 yarn-carrier held in the next adjacent guideways of the transfer wheel, as shown in Fig. 3, will likewise be operated by a front stop 55 when positioned upon the transfer wheel. Of course, it the arm 45 of either switch is in the position shown in Fig. 6 when its carrier is entered upon the transfer wheel no change in the position of the yarn occurs. it follows, therefore. that each time either yarnca rier leaves the transfer wheel its arm 4-?) will be in the position indicated in 1 and 6. The controller element of) in the form of a plate or arm adapted to be positioned in the path of the arm at oil a y rn switch at the end of the hack stroke, is carried by lever adapted to be operated by one of the pattern cylinders. This lever, best shown in. Fig. 2 and indicated in general by reterence character 56. is of a built-up construction including; a drum engaging foot 57 pivotally mounted at and having laterally spaced followers 59 and 61 adapted-to ride respectively on the peripheries of separatepattern disks fixed-to the cylinder 22 des-" reciprocation oi? the yarnignated generally by 62 and 6;. The lever includes also an upstanding portion 64: carrying; a fixed inwardly extending arm 65 which terminates in the controller element or stop 53. A spring 66 connected to the part Gel of the lever simply serves to hold the latter in contact with the pattern disks so as to take up any slack. The disks 62 and 63 are shaped to raise and lower the stop 53 at predetermined intervals. Thus, when through rotary movement of the pattern cylinder 22 in counter-clockwise direction the -points 67 and 68 reach the followers 59 and 61 respectively, the latter will be operated to raise the stop in which position this stop will be held, due to the continuity in the periphery of the cylinder disks, until the points 69 and 71 are reached, which lat ter cause the stop to be lowered again to operative position. The lever 56 and its cylinder pattern are also utilized for operating the intermediate cont-roller element 54, which, shown best in Fig 1, is in the form of a flat spring fixed to a rock shaft 7 2 mounted in bearings 73 on one of the base bars 18. The rock shaft is provided with an outwardly extending crank arm 74ldisposed beneath the portion 65 of the lever 56 and held in co-operative relation therewith by a flat spring 75 carried by said lever. Referring now to 3, it will be noted that the spring member 54 and the crank arm 74-, both fixed to the rock shaft 72, are so relatively arranged that when the stop 53 is in operative position, the member 54 is in an inoperative position, that is, withdrawn from the path of the yarn-changing switches. Vi hen now the lever 56 is operated by the pattern cylinder to raise the stop 53 in the manner just mentioned, the crank 74 will e rocked upwardly by said. lever, thereby swinging the s ning); controller 54; downwardly and into the oath oi. the upstanding finger l0 of the no. 1 yarn-carrier. It will be here noted that the purpose of the controller element 54: is solely to actuate the finger lO of the No. 1 yarn carrier and that this controller element even though in operative position, will not actuate the yarn changing; switch of the No. 2 yarn-carrier, because the switch operating arm. 15 of the latter passes idly beneath the controller element 54. From the foregoing, it will be plainly ev dent that when the controller element 58 is lowered into operative position the intermediate controller element 54 is simultaneously raised; to inoperative position, an d vice versa, although the controller element 53 ac tuates the yarn switches of both yarn-can riers when in operative position, whereas the controller element 5.4: operates only the yarn switch of the No. 1 yarn-carrier, the move ments or the controller elements being controlled from a common source on a pattern cylinder,

Having now in mind the construction of machine with respect to the plating. As already mentioned, have taken as an exarnple best illustrative of my improvements, the

knitting of a split foot. stocking of the de sign indicated in Fig, at. In knitting this stocking a heavler yarn is employed for knitting the toe, sole and heel than for knitting the upper foot, ankle and leg of the stocking. At the same time all of the knitting is plated so that throughout any portion of the stocking the yarn on faceis different from that on theback of the fabric. he machine as shown inFigs. 1, 2 and Elwith regard to the plating mechanism, is in a position commencing to knit, it being observed that the No. l yarn-carrier is in position to commence the firstback stroke and that the controller element 53'is in lowered operative position. The No; 1. yarn-carrier carries the relatively heavy yarn with the facing and plating yarns through the distributing eyes 38 and respectively. The toe portion A to B, Fig. 4-,- is knit round and round entirely by the No. l yarn-carrier. While knitting the toe, the needles in the front. bank of the machine are in operation duringtheback stroke and upon the return or forward stroke the knitting is by needles on the opposite bank. The diagrammatic illustrations in .l igafi' are laid outcorresponding :With the arrangement of the needlegyarncarriersand yarnswitches, as shown :111 Fig. v

fl. Thatis, thehoriaontal' column (ayFi 5, representsat-the rightthe No. 1 yarn-cars rier at the commencement of the back stroke, showing thezfacinq;yarn-38 and plating yarn 39, the fornieror which'will be knit on the outside or face of; the fabric. by. needles in the front row or bankas the car.- rier moves. to the left in the back stroke. At the completion of said back. stroke'the switch 45 will be reversed by the controller element53 as indicated in the diagram, thus reversing the. position ofthe facing and plating yarns so that they will be, knit respectively on'the face and back ofthe fabric byv the opposite needles whenthe'round 1s completedion the return or" forward stroke.

At the completion, of the forward stroke the yarn switch 45 1s reversed by thecontroller element It is thus seen that while'knitting the toe, the yarn switchis reversed at the end of each strol e by the controller elements and 52 respectively, the knitting being in continuous rounds. At the finish of the toe, the transfer wheel'will be-rerolved in a clockwise direction. viewing Fig.3, to

place the No. yarn-carrier in operative position. At the same time, the patterncyhn: der Wlll raise the controller element53 to 111- operatii'e position andlower the controller element into operative position. How ever, it.- will; be noted that this. latter controller elemen 5 willhave no ei'l ect on the yarn switch of the No. 2carrier., as.mentioned above. The relatively lighter facingand platingyarns ofth'e No. 2 yarn-carrien will bel ed to the front hankiofneedles in the hack stroke and-also on the forward stroke .ut change inposition. This operation is illustrated in the horizontal column (5) Fig. 5, in which. it will be seen thatthe facingyarn-SS and the platingyarn 39. remain unchanged and; are. simply, knit back. andI forth onthe frontbank of needles with the faeingyarnon the face ofthe fabric during both strokes. lit the finishof this course the transfer wheelwill be turnedin a counterclockwise direction, viewing Fig. 3, to. place the No. l yarn-carrieragain in operative .po sition. This yarn-carrier willthen knit, a. back and forward course on the opposite bank of needles with. the facing yarnoutermost. so that this yarn will be knit on the face of the fabric. During th'eback stroke, viewing the horizontal. column. (0), Iiig.v 5, the position, of the yarns must be reversed before the yarns reach the needlesin order that the plating yarn will be fed firstto the needles which are in action at thebackside of the machine. Since the controller elements remainin the same position, the em itch 54'will ,actuatethe pin O on this yarn switclnthereby reversing the, position of the. facing'and plating yarnsbeforecthe yarncarrier reaches. the needles. The plating yarn 38 will be fed first. to this bank of needles during boththe back and. forward strokes, the position ofjthe yarn switch being reversed at the completion of the forward stroke by the controllerelement. 52 on the transfer wheel. This knitting of coursesby the No. 2 a11d,.No. 1. yarn-carriers will be continued.alternately from the finish. of the toe B untilthe finish of. the higlrsplice C at a point in the ankle,. with theexceptionof the heel pocket. wiiich will be mentioned presently. During this knitting, thecon troller elements remain. stationary asindicateelin the columns(.?)).-(0) Fig. 5, that :is, with the elementaitraised andthe element 54- lowered. Thisproduces what is commonly known as a split foot stocking: having a union or suture at each sideof the foot. from the finish of the toe H to the finish of. the highsplice l. The heel pocket D-E is knit by the No. 1 yarn-carrier alone, during whichperiodthe No. 2 carrier is obviously inactive, as is well understood inthis art. The. ankle and leg portions of the stocking may. he knit inany manner desired, and in the present instance,.the ankle and leg pore tions from C to F areiknit with theNo. 2 yarn-carrier in continual rounds with the controller element 53in operative positionv as indicated in the horizontal (1i). lii. z". so

that the position of the yarns will be reversed at the end of each back and forward stroke. If desired, the No. 1 yarn-carrier may be thrown into operation to knit the upper leg portion FG. This completes the knitting of the stocking in which the entire fabric is automatically plated irrespective of the number of yarn changes and changes from round to course knitting.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of the operation and principles of my invention and of the objects prefaced above; and it should be understood that while I have illustrated and described but one working example of my improvements various changes and modifications might be made in the construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims, in which I claim:

1. Plating mechanism for knitting machines of the straight type, comprising in combination with the needles, a yarn-carrier, a transfer mechanism, a yarn tube on the yarn-carrier for separately guiding a plating yarn and a facing yarn, a switch on the yarn-carrier for reversing the position of the yarns, means on the transfer mechanism for actuating the switch so that the latter with its yarn-carrier will always leave the transfer mechanism in the same position, and a controller movable into and out of the path of the switch for actuating the same during reciprocation of the yarn-carrier.

2. In a knitting machine, a plurality of reciprocable yarn-carriers, each constructed for carrying a plating and a facing yarn the position of which may be reversed, a transfer mechanism for the yarn-carriers having means for causing the relative position of the yarns of each yarn-carrier to be the same when it leaves the transfer mechanism, and controlling means for causing at predetermined intervals in the operation of said yarn-carriers, the position of the yarns to be reversed.

3. In a knitting machine, a plurality of reciprocating yarn-carriers, each constructed for carrying a plating and a facing yarn the position of which may be reversed, a controller for reversing the position of the yarns of a yarn-carrier substantially at the end of its back stroke, and a second controller adapted at predetermined intervals to reverse the position of the yarns of a yarn-carrier at a point intermediate the ends of its stroke.

4:. In a knitting machine, a first and a second yarn-carrier each constructed for carrying a plating and a facing yarn, the position of which is adapted to be reversed, transfer mechanism for controlling the period of operation of the several yarn-carriers, a pat tern cylinder, a controller element operated by the pattern cylinder and adapted for causing the position of the yarn of said carriers, and controllers for governing theposition of the yarns of the several yarn-carriers in the following sequence: reversal of the yarn at opposite ends of the stroke of the first yarn-carrier during continual round knitting of the toe portion of a stocking; non-reversal of the yarn of the first and second yarn-carriers during the alternate courses of the same while knitting the split foot portion of a stocking, and reversal of the yarn of the second carrier at the opposite end of its strokes while knitting continual rounds of the leg of a stocking.

6. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of needles, of a plurality of yarn-carriers each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a facing yarn and each adapted for independent operation during which both yarns are fed to the needles, pattern mechanism for controlling the needles and yarn-carriers to produce a split foot stocking, and controllers for automatically reversing the distributing eyes of said yarncarriers to cause the facing yarns to be knitted on the face of the fabric during the different cycles of the yarn-carriers.

7. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of needles, of a plurality of yarn-carriers each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a facing yarn and each adapted for independent operation during which both yarns are fed to the needles, pattern mechanism for controlling the needles and yarn-carriers to produce a special fabric requiring knitting in courses employing both banks of needles and in courses employing one of either bank of needles, and automatically operated controllers for reversing the distributing eyes of the yarn carriers.

8. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of me dles, of a plurality of yarn-carriers each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a facing yarn and each adapted for independent operation during which both yarns are fed to the needles, pattern mechanism for controlling the needles and yarn-carriers to produce a special fabric requiring operation of one yarn-carrier through a different cycle from that of another, and controllers for automatically reversing the eyes of said yarn-carriers in con formance with the different cycles of said yarn-carriers.

9. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of nee- .dles, of a first and a second yarn-carrier,

each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a "racing yarn and each adapted for independent opera tion during which both yarns are fed to the needles, pattern mechanism for controlling the needles and yarn-carriers to produce a split foot stocking, and means for automatically reversing the distributing eyes of said first and second yarn-carriers during the respective cycles thereof to effect plating of said split foot stocking.

10. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of needles, of a plurality of yarn-carriers each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a facing yarn and each adapted for independent operation during which both yarns are fed to the needles, a switch on each yarn-carrier for reversing the position of the distributing eyes, and means for automatically operating said switches, one in a cycle of operation different from the other.

11. In a straight knitting machine, the

combination with opposed banks of needles, of a plurality of yarn-carriers each having a pair of reversible distributing eyes for a plating and a facing yarn and each adapted for independent operation during which both yarns are fed to the needles, a switch on each yarn-carrier for reversing. its distributing eyes, pattern mechanism for controlling the operation of the needles and yarn-carriers, and automatically operated controllers movable into and out of position for operating said switches for con trolling the position of the plating and itacing yarns in conformance with the pattern 01 the fabric.

152. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with opposed banks of needles, of a plurality oi reciprocable yarn-cal riers, means on each yarn-carrier for carrying a plating and a facing yarn, and for reversing the position thereof so that either yarn may be fed first to the needles, mechanism for controlling the period of operation of said yarn-carriers, and mechanism for causing the plating and facing yarns of one yarn-carrier to be presented to the needles in different order from the presentation of the plating and facing yarns of the other yarn carrier.

WILLIAM S. PARKER. 

